Dr, KaushikMitra
Head, Department of Political Science, Lucknow Christian Degree College, Lucknow.
Constitution Of Switzerland Continued.....
Constitution of Switzerland
MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONSTITUTION OF SWITZERLAND
4. Bill of Rights:
A major change affected
by the new Swiss Constitution (2000) has been the incorporation of a detailed
bill of rights. Under Title 2 Chapters 1
and 2 and Article 7 to 40, the Constitution now describes the basic, civil,
social and political rights of the Swiss people.
The Constitution
recognizes, grants and guarantees 34
rights of the people-The Rights of
Human Dignity, Equality, Religion and Customs, Freedom of Expression, Freedom
of Media, Association, Domicile, Property, Economic Freedom, Judicial
Protection, Citizenship, Political Rights etc.
The Swiss bill of
rights is a very detailed bill and incorporates almost all the rights and
freedoms which stand recognized as essential conditions of civilized living and
necessary for the enjoyment of the Right
to life.
5. Social Goals:
The Swiss Constitution,
under Title 2 Chapter 3 and Article 41 enumerates the social goals
before the Swiss Federation. It has been laid down in Article 41 that the Federation and Cantons will ensure that every
citizen should have the benefit of social
security, health care, protection of family, fair and adequate employment and
conditions of work, housing and education including continuing education.
The children and young
people are to be encouraged in their development to become independent and
socially responsible persons and they are to be supported in their social,
cultural and political integration.
Further, both the
Federation and the Cantons are to try to secure for every person social security, social insurance covering
old age, disability, illness, accidents, unemployment, maternity, orphan hood
and widowhood.
The Constitution also
lays down that the Federation and Cantons will always try to secure these
social goals within the limits of their constitutional powers as well as within
the means available to them. However, the social goals do not constitute the rights
of the people.
The people do not enjoy
the right to get these enforced by the state. In other words, in their nature,
the social goals enumerated in the Swiss Constitution are similar to the
Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Part IV of the Constitution
of India. Article 41 of the Swiss Constitution which provides for these social
goals, describes these as General Principles.
6. Purpose of the State:
In its Article 2, the
Swiss Constitution lays down the purpose of Swiss
Federation.
It describes the
following purposes as:
Ø To
protect liberty and rights of the people,
Ø To
safeguard the independence and security of the country,
Ø To
promote common welfare, sustainable development, inner cohesion and cultural
diversity of the country.
Ø To
secure to all citizens, as far as possible, equal opportunities,
Ø To
work for safeguarding the long term preservation of natural resources,
Ø To
promote a just and peaceful international order.
7.
Democratic Republican Constitution:
Ever since 1291,
Switzerland has been a Republic. It is now headed by a seven-member plural
executive whose members are elected by the two houses of Swiss Federal
Parliament. All political institutions in Switzerland are elected institutions.
The people elect their
representatives and they directly participate in the law-making through the
devices of Referendum and Initiative. The Constitution also
provides for Republicanism in the Cantons. Each Swiss Canton has the right to
have a constitution provided it assures the exercise of political rights
according to the Republican form. Article 51 declares, “Every Canton shall adopt a democratic
constitution.”
8.
Direct Democracy:
Switzerland has been
the home of Direct Democracy. Zurcher
has rightly written: “Switzerland and
democracy have, in recent years, become almost synonymous.” Since 1848, Switzerland has been working as a
direct democracy through such modern devices of direct legislation—Referendum and Initiative.
Under the system of ‘Referendum’, the people have the right
to approve or disapprove the laws or constitutional amendments passed by their
legislature. Measures put to referendum become operational only when these
secure majority of votes.
In case of
constitutional amendments, holding of referendum is compulsory but in case of
ordinary legislation it is optional i.e., it is held only when 50,000
Swiss voters make a demand for referendum.
Under the system of Initiative
100,000 Swiss voters can initiate any proposal for constitutional
amendment, which gets incorporated in the constitution when the majority of
Swiss voters as well as of Cantons approves it in a referendum.
The decision of the
referendum is final. Referendum is a negative device by which people can
rectify the errors of the Federal Parliament and Initiative is a positive device by which people can ensure desired
constitutional changes.
In one full Canton and
five half Cantons of Switzerland there is at work the institution of Landsgemeinde.
It is a Cantonal Council of all the
voters which makes laws, approves policies and elects the executive for running
the administration.
The people of
Switzerland use Referendum, Initiative
and Landsgemeinde as devices of
direct democracy within a system of representative democracy. They have a
directly elected assembly of their representatives - the Federal Parliament. But they also directly participate in
legislation through the devices of Referendum
and Initiative.
Article
I
of the 1874 Swiss Constitution described Switzerland as a confederation. But in reality, it was a federation with 23 Cantons (20 full and 6 half Cantons)
constituting the Federation. Now the newly revised constitution (2000) of
Switzerland directly describes it as the Swiss Federation.
“The
Swiss confederation came into being to consolidate the alliance of the
confederated members and to maintain and increase the unity, strength and
honour of the Swiss Nation.”
It further specified
that “the objective of the constitution
was to achieve the solidarity of the nation.” The total revision of the
constitution in 1874 was to achieve the solidarity of the nation. This total
revision of the constitution was governed by the objective of making
Switzerland a centralized federation by eliminating the weaknesses of the 1848
constitution.
The complete revision
of the Constitution in 1999 has further given strength to federalism.
Switzerland is now a federation both in name as well as in reality.
The federal character
of the Swiss Constitution is reflected by its following features:
1.
Non-sovereign status of Cantons.
2.
Supremacy of Swiss Constitution.
3.
Existence of written and rigid
constitution affecting a division of powers between the Swiss Federation and
the Cantons.
4.
The division of powers in the Swiss
Constitution follows the pattern of the US federation. The powers of the
Federation and the joint powers of the Federation and the Cantons have been
laid down in the Constitution, and the residuary powers have been left with the
Cantons.
5.
The federation has been given powers in
respect of subjects of national importance and the Cantons have retained powers
in respect of local and regional subjects.
6.
The Cantons have been given equality of
representation in the Upper House of
the Swiss Federal Parliament- the Senate, Each full Canton,
whether big or small, sends two representatives and each half-Canton one
representative to the Senate.
7.
The Cantons have their separate
constitutions.
8.
The Swiss Federal Court is an
independent judiciary with the power of judicial
review over the legislation passed by Cantonal
legislatures.
9.
There is dual citizenship, dual
administration and a dual system of courts.
All these features
clearly establish the existence of a federation in Switzerland. In the words of
Zurcher, “Federation is the
basic constitutional doctrine upon which the government of Switzerland is now
based.”
The new Constitution
has now eliminated the old practice of describing Switzerland as a
confederation. Switzerland is now a Federation both in name and reality. It is
a federation with 23 Cantons (20 full Canton and 6 half Cantons) as its non-sovereign units.
TO BE CONTINUED……….
